Cost to Build a New House in California | My Detailed Construction Cost Breakdown
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2021
- Link to my spreadsheet: etsy.me/3KZm1uX
In this video I give a detailed breakdown of exactly how much it is costing me to build my new house in Lake Tahoe California. I go line by line through my fixed priced contract with my builder explaining the construction cost for each item. I go over the cost for everything including architectural plans, engineering, permit fees, lumber, foundation, plumbing and everything else involved in building a new home from scratch. I then give the total cost to build at the end and break down the cost per square foot. My goal for this video is to help you budget for your new build and prepare you for the costs associated with construction and building a home. I interviewed as many contractors as I could before I signed a construction contract with my builder. Lumber prices are out of control right now so my cost for lumber is likely higher than you will see in the future. But I did my best to find a builder who was affordable, but still built quality homes. It is very expensive to build a new house in California and even more so in Lake Tahoe where there is a shortage of skilled labor. Having the cost to build in the form of a fixed price contract is usually required by construction lenders when applying for a construction loan. I also already owned my land before I signed my construction contract to build my cabin. I have great videos explaining how to find and buy land, as well as how to get a construction loan to build a house with no money down. 
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Here is the link to purchase my budget worksheet on etsy etsy.me/3KZm1uX
As a general contractor myself, I’m going to tell you, you did not OVER PAY. People really under appreciate the time, experience, knowledge, and commitment it takes to build a home. Especially in mountain/forest areas. I’ve heard many stories of clients paying cheaper prices only for the contractor to “run out of money” or leave them hanging with an uncompleted project. As long as you get what you paid for, appreciate it and enjoy the finished product. 👍
Thanks, I completely agree!
Seems that many of those nicely rounded numbers are already padded with profit and then they add a contractor profit line. I'd say the exterior painting price is fair but most other stuff seems 20-30% overpriced.
It is overpriced but that's just the cost of doing business around here. I'll still be in for about $600k less than existing homes in the area and I'll make it back in rental income pretty quick.
You are probably not from California… all of the product companies ad 20-40% markup once they see your zip code… also many products are forced to be made to higher green standards in California
I’m about to build in el dorado hills (same county that extends to South Lake Tahoe) - fees are $60k for a 2k square foot house, and requirements are brutal (geotechnical report, site survey, arborist reports, engineering, all the code crap on the plans, solar design, fire sprinkler design, septic design).
I’m not really an affordable housing guy, but CA is the land of the rich and the poor and a lot of it is because of extremely rigid housing requirements.
Title 24 is also brutal - the county wants 8 inch thick walls on my place (2x6 framing plus 2in exterior foam). EL Dorado Hills is prob at about 1k elevation with hot summers but extremely mild winters…those requirements seem like you’re building in Siberia.
Long gone are the days where a guy in his 30’s starting a family can build a house out here without going broke.
100%
Thanks! That was really nice of you to make this video to help other people know what the cost really is. We're trying to select a contractor for a build in Tahoma, and have been getting some wildly varying cost estimates. Very helpful!
Thanks for sharing! It made us very clear for our project.
Can you show the floorplan? Would love to understand specifics like how many linear feet of cabinets, how many windows, how many doors, etc. Thank you for this video! I agree that more people need to share this data and happy to share back what we end up with. We are very early in the process.
This is a very helpful video as I’m planning to build a house in SF Bay Area. Sounds like your finishes are quite an upgrade from typical homes. Would you mind sharing your floor plan and exterior renderings? Like to see what the design looks like. Thanks
Are you able to share which credit union you used? Also, how long did the process take from start to completion and what were the delays that you encountered? Did any delays hurt any process or conditions for the loans? Thanks for this breakdown, all your videos in this process have been phenomenal!
Thank you for this! I agree with a comment below about your upgraded finishes and would also love to see floor plans and renderings! :)
This is awesome, super helpful. My wife and I have considered a vaca home in Tahoe since we have been finding ourselves up there every year quite a bit. I’m likely going to go the same route as you as I’m particular about floor plan / garage space (wake boat).
It's a long road dealing with all the extra permitting and building hoops you have to jump through for Tahoe but hopefully worth it in the end.
This was super helpful.
Thank you for sharing, I am in the planning stage and the cost of building in Southern California is crazy, I think you did well for a 2400SF house, especially design and engineering fee for 12K is low. Not sure if you had to do survey and soil report.
Excellent video
Great video, very insightful.
What software are you using?
If it’s a spreadsheet, can you make it available.
Thank you sooo MUCH for this video. Very helpful!!!!🙏
You're welcome. Happy to help.
Good looking out Brandon 🙏👍💯
That's what I'm here for 🙏
Thank you for share it!
Thank you for watching!
Thanks for sharing. We're planning our own build about an hour or so from Tahoe, and this will definitely help us plan for a budget. I grew up in Sacramento, but have lived in AZ for the last 8 years. Decided to move back to the area and am just dumbfounded by the permitting costs and requirements CA has for new homes. They want affordable housing, but all the extra add on and fees are the price of an entire home to begin with, and then you have to build the house! No wonder builders are building smaller, cheaper homes... it ain't possible.
Awesome. CA is so hypocritical when it comes to housing. You shouldn't get price gauged as much building outside of Tahoe Basin. You will also have a lot more options for builders in the Sacramento/Roseville/Davis/Auburn area. Good luck!
This was a very helpful video! Thank you for putting this together.
Good Video, Thank You.
Thanks for sharing. Recently bought a lot to build but builder estimate jumped over 30%. Can you share the document you used to calculate and track cost?
excellent content, I am civil engineer and quite impressed with the details you dived in. wondering where you are in the project ?
Thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching!
Wow! You got Bob the builder! Thanks for sharing.
😁
Man, I am so grateful to you for sharing this because I have a crazy story of my quote from Sonoma County contractors I won’t name. They gave us a price of $2.5 million for 3,400 sq-ft. I asked them for a glass of whiskey because I almost fainted!😵💫 According to them, that’s not bad at all so… leaving California seems very convincing right now.
90% of the quotes I got were just like you described. I just had to laugh and walk away. And people wonder why there is a housing shortage in California...
In the process of building myself for this year and its interesting how much prices vary by region. Most of your budget seems like a heavy premium compared to my region, but some stuff are way less.
Cheers and hope you enjoy your cabin for years to come!
Cheers and good luck on your project! There's not much price transparency or consistency in the construction industry unfortunately.
are you in california?
It's hard to get workers up there
Great video
Thanks!
Thank you! This video was very helpful! Do you have a video of the house being built?
Its coming. Lots of delays, but the build is about 85% done. I do have a video about how I designed it.
Thank you!!!
I’m planning to build unit’s here in Los angels and it’s crazy expensive right now, luckily my sqf isn’t that bad, but still comes up expensive
Thanks for the great details, I am planning to build a home in placer county, is it possible to share the architecture firm you used to create the site plan?
Sounds good. And you did good. I'm in Northern California, eagle ridge. You have a great vacation rental year round with quality build it appears. And all was financed? Paying for itself likely.
Thanks, most people just call me an idiot for paying too much lol. The construction was 100% financed. I bought the lot with a land loan that required 30% down. Cheers!
Thanks for ur nice video. Very helpful. Is the construction loan too expensive when compared to regular conventional loan? Any range u can post it here? BTW liked n subscribed.
Interest rate is slightly higher than conventional loan for existing home. It's also only offered as an ARM, but most people refinance to conventional mortgage after construction is complete
Carpenter contractor in LA here, I'm curious as to why you chose Western Red Cedar for the siding? There are many cost-effective mid to high end options that have a similar look, even composites that wouldn't require the first/future coats of finish. Food for thought for your future builds here.
Thanks for sharing this, the spreadsheet is super helpful for me planning a high desert build!
Hi! There was a short list of approved siding materials based on neighborhood aesthetic and fire retardation.
Will you be doing an update video once construction is complete?
Would love to see the final product!
Hopefully a construction update coming soon! Permits took forever...
Really it's not bad and I know there is quality work out west.
One of my buddies lives off of Kiowa drive at the bottom of the summit pass… absolutely beautiful neighborhood and homes.
Absolute steal building an $800k home in a 1.5 million neighborhood
Don't count on this...cost overruns!!
also doesn’t include cost of land which probably put it over 1mil
Hi we are in process of building in North Lake Tahoe/truckee. Would love to know who you use for your contractor. Any local tips you could provide would be greatly appreciated as well.
Thank you so much for this Video Brandon. I am a new realtor in California and my goal is to learn as much as I can about the market. This video gave me a lot of insight about building my own home someday. Also, did you mention the cost of the land?
Awesome 👍 congrats on becoming a realtor! The land was $200k
thank you!
You're welcome!
Wow super helpful. Thank you. How does the 500sqf garage factor into the price? Is it absorbed in the $347/sqf price?
The garage is not considered finished living space so it's not part of the equation for $/sqft when speaking with a builder, local building department, or lender. The additional cost of a garage is usually a gray area and will depend on your builder. In my case, there isn't a single home in the area without a garage so it was sort of a given that there would be a garage. Not the best answer I'm sorry.
Thanks for sharing all this information. We are in the Davis area. It is so hard finding a home in Davis because we just don't have much inventory. Do you mind sharing your lender and builder information? Thank you!
Really love your video!! Already subscribed!!
Just wondering what's the Price of the land....And how much is your gross profit after paying taxes and all the other stuff...
Awesome, thanks! Land was about $200k. I'll make a future video on my revenue, expenses, and profit after the airbnb is up and running. :)
@@brandon-built That's great! Looking forward to see that.
Also missing was interior furniture, that can really add up!
Did you do the soil, topography and other pre-construction studies before buying the lot or was it part of the construction loan/budget? I’m a little afraid of buying land first and not be able to build the idea once these studies are done.
I did not do any preconstruction studies other than confirm lot info with the county which in hindsight was pretty risky. Luckily we were able to get permits and start building but their was one protected tree that almost derailed the whole project after I bought the land.
Thanks for the video and detail, would you mind sharing a link to the spreadsheet please?
Link to spreadsheet is in the description. Thanks for watching!
Hi there, also researching soft/hard costs in norcal, could I get the spreadsheet emailed to me? I would love to use it as a reference point/ball park
can you post that spreadsheet to download? Or share the google doc?
Thank you
You're welcome
@Brandoman Investing
Thank you for he video.
Question: How do you come up with (factor) the cost? Is this something you sit down the contractor and discuss? Or just an estimation or some sort?
Thanks.
Coming up with the cost is tricky. It is a balance between staying within your budget and yielding enough profit for the builder to take on your job. If you negotiate too much on price then your builder will just walk away because it isn't worth their time. You need to have a certain amount of trust that your builder isn't ripping you off in the cost of labor. I interviewed 10 builders and chose the most affordable one after I visited a few of his job sites to check his quality.
Yo let’s see a house reveal! Is it done?! Also I really appreciate this video, it’s incredibly helpful as I am starting this same process. How big was the lot?
Progress update coming soon. Permits took forever, but construction is going pretty quickly. Lot was a 1/3 acre, pretty standard for the area.
Great video. Any updates on your project? Are you able to on budget in this environment?
It is ongoing. I'll make an update video eventually. Luckily it is a fixed price contract so my costs can't go up
@@brandon-built missed that “fixed price “. Thanks for taking us along this journey. I look forward to the next video
Your numbers are not too far off. In West LA 3-miles from the ocean the cost =$ 350--575/SQFT. City of LADBS requires sprinklers for 1K Sqft additions to an existing house that adds $17K. Your Appliance estimate is too low. A 42 " wide sub zero frig = $17K . Sometimes the best option is to just buy another home to fit your needs rather than to try and add on a 1Ksqft addition because the of the new 2020 residential codes. So this little sq box will cost us $350-575K. Have you considered being your own owner-builder and just hire the sub-contractors?. You can save 125K.
Can you share which lender you used?
what cost the most when it comes to renovations, remodeling and building homes as far as electrical work, plumbing ,hvac and carpentry?
In terms of building homes the framing and foundation work are the most costly and non negotiable. The finishing costs vary a lot depending on your choices of materials e.g. wood floors cost a lot more than carpet.
If a wildfire or something were to destroy your house, would it cost the same to rebuild it?
Great video…
Can you offer more info on the Fixed Building Contract? Very important knowledge these days…*Details or example contract*
I have another video with details about the all-in-one construction loan and the fixed price contract with my builder. The builder usually provides the contract and the lender provides document templates for budgeting and other details.
Thank you, this open book look at the financials of your deal was one of the most informational videos I have ever seen on RUclips. Thank you! Thank you! Looking to develop my land in LA (SB9), San Bernardino County and Sonoma County... All very different areas, yet all facing these economic issues and price gauging due to labor shortages and PLANdemic supply shortages.
Thanks! I feel your pain
Dude i just found ur video and im trying to develop 3 acres in fiddletown just 30 minutes from u lol im by south lake in California
Were there any cost that you thought were a good deal and or any that were ridiculously expensive? What is the amount of equity you have already by building in this area?
Windows, roof, and cabinetry are the best deals. Lumber is costing me at least twice as much as a year ago. Built in equity is about $500k.
Who was your builder? Great video! 🤗
Did you get two separate loans for the lot and the construction to permanent? Or all in one? Sorry we’re trying to go through the process to build in the Bay Area and we are a bit confused.
Got a land loan for the lot a couple of years ago. We recently got an all in one construction loan that pays off the remaining debt on the land loan. I have another video explaining everything about my construction loan.
@@brandon-built whos the lender
If you weren't in a time crunch you could have squeezed a few dollars of savings in. The equity makes it a solid deal. How long did the project take?
Project is still ongoing. I'll make an update video as things progress.
what does california building code require added to house plans for earthquakes if any?
Oh boy. I have plans to buy acres in socal and build modular or barndominum if possible. Idk what would be more expensive building or just buying a already built home on 3 acres..
Check with local building departments first! Barndominium would be cool but might not pass seismic requirements. I actually tried to do modular first but I couldn't find a single builder willing to put it together...
Hey had a question. As a normal homeowner, I don't have a general contractor's license. If I wanted to add rooms to our current house, am I allowed to sub contract work out for each portion of the project? Such as a concrete person, framing, electrical and all those things? Do they have to have licenses? Does the city care who does the work or do they only care if it's done correctly? Your response would be highly appreciated.
You can project manage, but you need to start with a licensed architect and engineer to draw up the proper plans to be approved by the local building department. Once the plans are approved then you can sub out all the individual jobs if you want. There will be inspections by the city all along the way.
@@brandon-built Thanks! A draftsman did draw up the plans and they have been approved by city. I am hearing some people say that as an owner builder, if I hire an unlicensed person to do work on the project then have to put that worker on “worker’s compensation” and that I have to put them on payroll. Could you elaborate on this?
@@balla2828 My pops did this in our home. Check-in with your inspector at every major step, don't make our mistake and only call him at the end, he has the right to ask you to tear it all down to look inside the walls or under the new foundation.
You don't have to put people on payroll and workers' compensation is optional but understand if someone gets hurt, you foot the bill without insurance since they were on your property. You definitely need a solid contract to protect yourself while working with unlicensed persons.
@@Michael-st9ky Thanks a lot for this info. Could you elaborate more on the contract? What do you think it needs to have in it?
Do you have the spreadsheet posted anywhere?
That’s INSANE. How did you go about finding contractors? Nobody ever seems to return my phone calls here in Southern California
I think 1 out of every 5 contractors actually responded to me. I followed up using any method I could (phone, email, social media, etc). Communication is not a strong suit of the industry...
Did you add you Land cost ? Please let me know. I thinking to buy 6600 SQ FT of up slope land in Hayward California. I am not sure how much it may cost me excavation and grading slope land.
Land was $200k. Plan out and budget as much as you possibly can before buying land. It's tough to sell land after you realize it's too expensive to build on.
@@brandon-built Thanks for the information. You put very good detail cost that help me lot. This the one of the best video. I am going to find out Hayward City cost of all permit and cost. There are 4 big tree on lot. The lot neighbor has power, Drainage, Gas that means I can get all of them very closer to my lot.
It strikes me as I learn about construction costs that home buyers undervalue how much a new or fully renovated house is worth. I bought a older house in early 2021 for 900k. It’s going to need 300-350k in renovations to get it where i want it. I could have bought a fully renovated house for 1.1 million or a savings of 100k. The only plus is you get exactly what you want when you renovate.
I work for a GC, you really are paying a premium with those prices. You could have subbed everything. Thats what the GC did.
Not in Tahoe unfortunately
A builder owner might save on that general contractor portion and even on the general budget. Is it built?
That is what I am looking into. GC's take their profit by connecting with other contractors and keeping schedules.
Thanks for putting this together. Very helpful. Is there a reason that line item 402 'Labor' for $78K is broken out on it's own, but not for any of the other high budget line items? Trying to understand if labor/profit is also included in some of the other line items. I ask because I also noticed you listed $20K for flooring, which I would think is a little high considering it's 2,400 sq ft of LVP with a little bit of tile. Not pointing this out to try and say you paid too much, simply trying to understand.
I recently did my own floors about 3mo ago (2,200 sq ft home in los angeles) and know the general range for LVP is $3 - $6 sq ft for material. I undertsand tile can be a bit expensive, but just trying to understand where the difference is.
Again, great video and I commend you for taking this on. Hoping in the next year I can do the same.
Most of the line items include labor (which is very expensive in the resort area of Tahoe) so everything looks pretty inflated. I'm not sure why they only specified labor for the framing portion, but this budget worksheet was created by the construction lender. I'm sure there is some amount of buffer added to each line item by the builder so that they guarantee a decent profit.
@@brandon-built Good point, location can impact labour costs.
@@brandon-built
Thanks so much for making/sharing this video. We have a cabin in Myers, and we want to do something very similar to your build. Would you mind telling me the name of your builder?
My contractor here in Socal in IE quoted me last year at 225 per sq ft his cost to build an avg size nice looking middle class style home plus his fee so I figured 250 plus land, utilities, permits, landscaping.
If you've walked through some of his houses and he does good work then that would be a great deal unless it's in the middle of nowhere
@@brandon-built he's well known every house he builds in my area improves the NBhood.
@@curtissharris8914 sounds great then
@@brandon-built I've always wanted to build my own so well shall see . Thanks for the great info
Whats the company name ?
How much was the lot? great vid, thanks
$200k. You're welcome!
Hey is there a way you can talk about how you negotiated the price?
That's a good idea for a video. The biggest thing I can think of is just talking to as many builders/contractors as possible to collect as much info as you can. Knowledge is power here. Figure out what the biggest drivers of cost are (labor, materials, etc..) and see which contractor has the most margin to negotiate with. For example my builder has 20+ year relationships with his subcontractors so he gets better pricing on labor that he can pass along to me.
what store did you buys the stacking door and windows?
Anderson
That price seems pretty fair. It’s not over priced.
Fair for the area.
Thats actually a pretty good deal! From a builder.
Most people without knowledge of the local labor and real estate market just think I'm an idiot 😂
Do you maybe have an average of how much it might cost for a 1800 sq ft house
A general rule of thumb would be to look at the average home value for an existing 1800 sq ft home in your desired neighborhood and then assume it's going to cost about the same to build a new house in that neighborhood.
Is this a property for you to live in or a rental? Interested in investing in California soon.
This will primarily be a rental that I can also use occasionally as a vacation home.
I am curious how much did the parcel cost and the size of it.
$200k for about a third of an acre.
Can I get the name and contact Igor for your builder? Thanks!
is that including the cost for land in your final cost per square foot
Just for the build. Land would add another $83 a square foot to the overall cost
So what is the plan with this home? Airbnb is banned in South Lake Tahoe - is this going to be a rental??
It's in north lake. Plan is for it to be a second home and vacation rental if local regulations allow.
@@brandon-built Isnt there a moratorium for new vacation rentals?
@@InvestLikeMike_ yes, counties will most likely just end up taxing everyone a lot more with short term rental permits after the moratorium is over.
I don't see the cost for structural and civil. I am also in the process of building home in bay area. My architect fee is 36K. The civil guy charged me 6.5K, structural 8K
It's all captured in "Engineering"
How much was the land purchase was it included ?
Land was $200k which I bought with a land loan a few years ago.
Sounds crazy, it's actually smart, especially if your build is "COMPARABLE" to those million dollar homes.
Thanks, I did my best to make it feel high end. Should be done in a couple months and I'll post a tour video so that others can be the judge.
Good deal. I wouldn’t build it for that price as the builder. Anyone saying it’s overpriced has no clue how expensive it is to just exist as a builder
Thanks, it's nice to not be called an idiot for once 🤣. Do you sub out everything or do you employ most of your team?
Nice breakdown. What about the cost of the land?
Thanks! Land was $200k, but I also should've included the finished garage in the square footage calculation. So the price per square foot is still about $365/sf with the land and garage included.
@@brandon-built So with the land and garage the total price was around $1,060,000?
@@brandon-built Is it a 2 car direct access garage?
@@canIsee yup, just about that all-in. And yes the garage is attached and insulated/drywalled/painted with direct access to the house.
Can you build a block or concrete house in California?
It'll depend if it falls within the local community plan for acceptible home exterior aesthetics. You should be able to build it in a lot of areas as long as it passes seismic engineering requirements.
What did you pay for the lot?
$200k. $70k down.
How much did the land cost too? What's the total all together with land?
Land was about $200k. Total cost just over a million. I only put about $75k cash down on the entire project.
@@brandon-built wow that's not bad. What type of loan did you take? And what was the time frame of the project?
@@chamonglee Construction-to-permanent loan (I detail the process in another video on my channel). The construction itself is 8 months. The land search and design process took about a year, but could've gone a lot faster.
@@brandon-built would you say it's better to go this route over buying an older home or new construction home?
@@chamonglee if you are okay with waiting 1-2 years for the project to be complete then it is absolutely worth it. You will end up with a finished product that exactly fits your needs and tastes and there will be no renovations required for many years. It's usually cheaper to build new vs buying an equivalent existing home.
How did u find a builder that offer that low? The builders are asking minimum 700$ sqft.
I talked to every last builder in Tahoe, including the ones you speak of. The top results on Google or Yelp were all $600+ a square foot. There are builders out there who build for less but it takes some digging to find them because they aren't advertising.
@@brandon-built This gives me hope. Would you mind sharing people you worked with? Btw we are about to watch your building home playlist with my wife
@@ilterates you can email me at brandomaninfo@gmail.com
How long it took to get the permit approved?
About 9 months. Really slowed us down.
@@brandon-builtThank You
What was the cost of the land?
$200k
What was the cost of land?
$230k. I just posted a recent video with the final cost breakdown after construction was completed
IF I BUY THE TEMPLATE ,CAN I ENETER MY COST?
Of course. You can also add new line items.
Doesn’t he have to add in how much he paid for the empty land if he is going to compare with other homes in the neighborhood?
Yes he should have haha. Paid $200k for the land. Average home value in neighborhood is $1.7M now. Cheers!
All I can say is thank God I don’t live in California. That budget is ridiculously expensive. 28k for rough in electrical then another 6k to finish, crazy.